Freedom Plaza

Your Guide

Originally known as Western Plaza, the design for Freedom Plaza was the result of a design competition hosted by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation. Initially selected to design adjacent Pershing Park, architect Robert Venturi of Venturi, Rausch and Scott Brown and landscape architect George Patton swapped spaces with landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg to design the space.

The design for the modernist plaza, completed in 1980, was only partially realized. The original design scheme proposed large maquettes of the White House and Capitol buildings, two tall sculptural pylons, which would frame the Treasury Building linking the plaza to the city, and a multipart sculpture by Richard Serra. Set on a raised terrace platform, steps lead up to the plaza from the surrounding sidewalk. A large map of Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for the Federal City delineated in black granite and white marble is set into the pavement, while grass panels represent the Mall and the Ellipse, and bronze markers denote the Capitol and White House. Historic quotations are incised on the plaza floor and terrace walls. With ample seating at its opposite sides, the plaza contains a raised reflecting pool with an animated circular fountain, edged by a granite seat wall at its western end, and an equestrian statue of Casimir Pulaski in a semi-circular node to the east.

In 1988 the plaza was renamed Freedom Plaza, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. This project along with Welcome Park and Franklin Court, in Philadelphia, are unique interpretive designs by Venturi and Scott Brown for reclaiming urban spaces and transforming them into urban plazas.

The Freedom Plaza

Western Plaza was renamed Freedom Plaza in 1988, in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who is said to have finished writing his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the nearby Willard Hotel. A time capsule is buried beneath the plaza.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Quotations

Quotations are incised into the paving on the western end of the plaza.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Flagpoles

Two flagpoles bearing the flags of the District of Columbia and the United States are set into the pavement along the plaza’s southern edge.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

A Historic Statuary

Shingle oak are planted adjacent to a statue of Polish Brigadier General Count Casimir Pulaski on the eastern end of the plaza. Pulaski was a member of George Washington’s Army during the American Revolution. The statue, sculpted by Kazimierz Chodzinski sits on a pedestal designed by architect Albert Ross. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the 1978 listing for American Revolution Statuary.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The L'Enfant Plan Set into Paving

The L’Enfant Plan for Washington is set into the paving of the raised plaza. The rectangular plaza replaced two triangular spaces which were part of L’Enfant’s original plan. Focal points provide anchors at each end of the plaza – the Casimir Pulaski statue to the east, and a large fountain to the west.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

A Redesign

Oehme, van Sweden & Associates was hired in the 1980s to be the landscape design consultant for the PADC. Their characteristic planting style includes lush seasonal plantings, emphasized by swaths of grasses and perennials. In their redesign of the plantings at Freedom Plaza they replaced formal evergreen hedges with roses, flowering annuals, perennials and grasses and designed plantings for the site’s unique planters designed by George Patton pictured here.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

A Location for Protest

Freedom Plaza is a popular location for gatherings and has often been a central point for Washington protests.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

A Semi-Circular Node

A semi-circular node houses an equestrian statue of Casimir Pulaski. The preexisting statue (dating from 1910) was incorporated into the design for the plaza.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The Fountain

A low fountain sits at the plaza’s western edge. The fountain, which sprays concentric bands of water at varying heights, adds a focal point at the major intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th street. The spray provides an active element to the plaza, and adds a vertical aspect to the strongly horizontal design.

Image: The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Architectural Diagrams

Brass architectural diagrams of the White House and the U.S. Capitol are laid into the plaza’s white granite paving.